Input sought. Building RV pad. Amenity suggestions?

[mtnspringskate]

Hi I am new here and I'd like to get some feedback please. My husband and I live north of Dallas/Fort Worth. We are on 21 acres. It's about 36 miles from our land to the northern suburb of Frisco, Texas.
We are considering installing a pad that would be long enough to accommodate up to the size of Motor Home. We would have full hookups. The purpose is to have some extra money each month. We'd like to appeal to people that would like a place to stay short term or just traveling through.
What are amenities or "musts" when you are looking for a place like this? Please be frank. I'm wanting to do something nice. I take great pride in my property. Thank you!

[valhalla360]

Gdetrailer wrote:



Then there is dealing with ... squatters...

Forgot about this. There are a lot of renters laws out there that can make it difficult and expensive to get rid of someone if they can even remotely claim it as a residence.

[time2roll]

Like a mini RV park? Unless you are near a big attraction I am probably just staying the night as I pass through.
Low cost and solid electric power. Maybe water and a dump station for extra charge.

You can rack up amenities for others but I just want a low cost easy overnight area.

[down_home]

Be sure to have surge protector and brown out protection installed.
A building even a gazabo. Sams has a large one for 1200 or so. Wall it if you desire and have a building. Wire it for electricity. Put the water filter/ softener if need be in one corner.
If you us concrete dye it and have a pattern put into it or put large tile in the patio area. Keep it all the same grade or level.
Make sure the tower for power, cable tv, water etc is on the pad and not the ground.
Plantings and water features really make one of these. Built in pellet grill or other. The RVer won't have to haul his out to grill.
Water faucet so RVer can wash his car or the Mh, filtered of course .....and fittings and timer and control to provide water for sprinkler system for lawn area.
on edit. I understand your idea of a cover for thee pad. I've seen many in west Texas and else where. The sun is brutal and hot.
It's a good idea. About the Satellite dish usage under a cover.... well, if the pad is situated just right, a large enough section of roof that opens, sides perhaps in rails or other, would allow use of their Satellite.There are all sorts of workable ideas, just depends on what you want to do and energy to carry through with it.

[Gdetrailer]

mtnspringskate wrote:
Hi I am new here and I'd like to get some feedback please. My husband and I live north of Dallas/Fort Worth. We are on 21 acres. It's about 36 miles from our land to the northern suburb of Frisco, Texas.
We are considering installing a pad that would be long enough to accommodate up to the size of Motor Home. We would have full hookups. The purpose is to have some extra money each month. We'd like to appeal to people that would like a place to stay short term or just traveling through.
What are amenities or "musts" when you are looking for a place like this? Please be frank. I'm wanting to do something nice. I take great pride in my property. Thank you!

In a nutshell, you ARE creating a "campground" without calling it a "campground"..

To me, that is no different than being a landlord with rental "homes", basically a business.

In doing so, you are opening yourself up to a lot of headaches.

For the few measly dollars you might squeeze out of that land you will be putting in a lot of work.

You have infrastructure such as roads, water, sewage, electric, Internet, GARBAGE that will need to be paid for and maintained by you.

You will need insurance to cover your behind.

You will need insurance to cover losses (yep, damage done by renters or vandals).

You will not be taking ANY "vacations" yourself.. No one will watch your "campground" for free..

Taxes on your land WILL go up due to "improvements"..

In the end, you WILL be taking a loss..

This is where you would have to go big or go home, one little "pad" isn't going to net any profits, only losses..

Then there is dealing with deadbeats, vagrants, squatters, riffraff, party crowd.. Wouldn't take long to wish you had a few hundred acres that you could have them at the far corner away from you..

And forget about the "pride" you take with your property, once you open your property up to renters you won't have time left cleaning and fixing things to take pride in it any more.

Camping to me is my relaxing time, a "hobby".. Don't turn your love for camping into a BUSINESS which turns into work.

[BarbaraOK]

huntram wrote:
I wouldn't put a cover over it. Many RVers have roof mounted satellite dishes!

Brian

And most travel with a tripod setup for when they are in places with tree cover, etc. Small inconvenience to set up compared to the cost of a new roof on an RV. We are talking about HAIL in TEXAS. Maybe you've never been there, but we replaced roofs on house about every 7 years due to HAIL.

[huntram]

I wouldn't put a cover over it. Many RVers have roof mounted satellite dishes!

Brian

[westernrvparkow]

You are building a campground. How do you expect to travelers to find you? If you advertise, the governing bodies are going to find you real quick (99.9 percent change one of your neighbors will turn you in, if nothing else). Then you will have to meet all the requirements for owning and running a campground. That will include zoning, drinking water requirements, sewage disposal requirements, taxation requirements, and a host of other rules and regulations.
You may be able to get someone to rent long term by advertising on either Craigslist or by using one of the VRBO type sites. You may even be able to fly under the radar that way. But you will have to price yourself below the market and take your chances with a renter that is very price sensitive. How do you plan on dealing with electricity costs? If you include it in your rents, you may find you vastly underestimate what some can use, especially if they don't care. If you bill it separately, that creates more issues. Are you going to take a deposit to insure payment? Are you going to create a separate power company account for each RV site? If you don't, and you meter each one yourself, there are laws in each state that govern what you can charge and what you must report.
Unlike selling stuff on Ebay, a campground is a visible business. You won't be able to just hide it and forget all the laws. Campgrounds are highly regulated. It is likely you will face more than a slap on the wrist if you get caught. And like another poster mentioned, once there is an injury on the property, all bets are off. Is a few hundred dollars a month worth the risk of losing tens of thousands in lawsuits and fines over an upset stomach caused by drinking water from a well that wasn't properly tested and recorded on the schedule set forth specifically for campgrounds and other public accommodations by the public health department?

[valhalla360]

Don't just check the legal requirements for operating a campground also check with your insurance company. They may require you to change to a commercial policy if you want coverage when the camper gets injured.

[DallasSteve]

This looks like your first post. I'm from the Dallas area, too, (who would've guessed) and I've thought about doing what you are considering. After reading here a while I found out that a lot of counties across the country have restrictions against what you want to do. Be sure that you check out whether such restrictions exist on your land before you invest a lot of money in this. I don't agree with these rules, but they exist in a lot of areas. If you find out that it's legal I'd like to hear back because I've thought about retiring to an RV on a plot of land in a nice area.

[ncrowley]

Complete shade from the sun all times of the year would be a big selling point. That means a roof and sides and with an opening that faces North.

[ScottG]

How about a Tiki hut?!
(a guy can wish cant he?)

[BarbaraOK]

What do county zoning laws say, not to mention business laws. Well water, septic, or on county services? I would put a very high cover over the parking spot for the RV to deflect hail - that is a real problem for RVs.

Barb

[Lwiddis]

Covered? That will sell!

[NMDriver]

coolmom42 pretty well covered it but if you are advertising the spot mention how far you are from fishing, restaurants, groceries, etc and ease of access.

Pull through sites are generally sought after over back in sites.

Parking space for additional vehicles is also nice, particularly if someone is pulling a boat and 5er.